Marci A. Hamilton

Education

B.A., 1979, Vanderbilt University

M.A., 1982, 1984, Pennsylvania State University

J.D., 1988, University of Pennsylvania

Areas of Expertise

Constitutional Law

First Amendment

Religion and the Law

Bio

MARCI A. HAMILTON is one of the United States’ leading church/state scholars and holds the Paul R. Verkuil Research Professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. Her new blog with Professor Leslie Griffin on religious liberty, women’s rights, and children’s rights can be found at www.hamilton-griffin.com. She also hosts www.RFRAperils.com, which tracks free exercise statutes in all 50 states and the federal government. Professor Hamilton will publish God vs. the Gavel: The Perils of Extreme Religious Liberty (Cambridge) in Spring 2014.

Professor Hamilton is also an author and lecturer on the protection of vulnerable children from institutions, and a national leader and advocate for legislative reform of statutes of limitation reform through her website, www.sol-reform.com. She is the author of Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (Cambridge), and is a bi-monthly columnist for www.justia.com/verdict.

Professor Hamilton has been honored as one of Pennsylvania’s Women of the Year; received the National Crime Victim Bar Association’s Frank Carrington Champion of Civil Justice Award; the E. Nathaniel Gates Award for outstanding public advocacy and scholarship; and the Lifetime Achievement Award for Pro Bono Legal Service to veterans groups. She clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Honors and Awards

• Silver Medal, Foreword Magazine Political Science Book of the Year Award for God vs. the Gavel, 2005

• Nathaniel Gates Award, Cardozo School of Law

Notable Litigation

• Currently challenging the constitutionality of RFRA’s successor, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act in cases involving local governments and religious land use.

• Lead counsel for the City of Boerne, Texas, in Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997), the seminal federalism and church/state case holding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) unconstitutional.

Education

• She received her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. She also received her M.A. in Philosophy and M.A., high honors, in English (fiction writing) from Pennsylvania State University, and her B.A., summa cum laude, from Vanderbilt University. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Order of the Coif.

On behalf of: the National Center for Victims of Crime, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, Jewish Board of Advocates for Children, Inc., Child Protection Project, Survivors for Justice, the National Black Church Initiative, KidSafe Foundation, the Cardozo Advocates for Kids, the Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse, and BishopAccountability.org.

On behalf of: Former Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham, the National Child Protection Training Center, The National Center for Victims of Crime, Child Protection Project, Jewish Board of Advocates for Children, Inc., Stop the Silence: Stop Child Sexual Abuse, Inc., BishopAccountability.org, Americans Against the Abuses of Polygamy, the Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse, and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

On behalf of: Child Protection Project, Jewish Board of Advocates for Children, National Black Church Initiative, Children’s Healthcare Is a Legal Duty, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), Cardozo Advocates for Kids, Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse, Americans Against Abuses of Polygamy, Child Victims Voice, and National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children (NAPSAC)

On behalf of:The Jewish Board of Advocates for Children, Inc.; Survivors for Justice; The National Black Church Initiative; Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests; The National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children; Child Protection Project; The Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse; The Cardozo Advocates for Kids; Sexual Violence Legal News; Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty; Americans Against Abuses of Polygamy; and Americans United for Separation of Church and State

WHYY: Newsworks TonightWilliam Lynn Gets 3 to 6 Years in Philly Church Abuse Case by Elizabeth Fielder"'I think this is a guide for the world,' says Marci Hamilton, the co-counsel in several civil cases brought by plaintiffs who allege abuse and cover-up by Philadelphia church officials. 'I do think that Seth Williams has set the standard so that prosecutors now know that they can get justice for victims of child sexual abuse,' Hamilton says. 'And prosecutors were afraid these kinds of prosecutions even 10 years ago. They were elected officials and they were afraid of being targeted as being anti-Catholic.'"The New York Daily NewsLegal Experts Feel ex-FBI Director Did Not Delve Far Enough Into Jerry Sandusky's History of Abuse by Michael O'Keefe"Law school professor Marci A. Hamilton gives former FBI director Louis Freeh’s report on Penn State’s sex-abuse scandal an 'incomplete,' and says it did not live up to its potential. Hamilton, a professor at New York’s Cardozo School of Law and an advocate for sex-abuse victims, says the focus of Freeh’s investigation is far too narrow. 'It is an incomplete report,' Hamilton told the Daily News on Thursday."

The New York TimesResearchers See Decline In Child Sexual Abuse Rateby Erica Goode"'The effectiveness of those investments, said Marci A. Hamilton, a constitutional law professor and an advocate for children at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, is evident, and can be seen in the trials in Pennsylvania. 'I think there’s more of a willingness of victims to come forward and more willingness of the support system of the victims to let them come forward,' she said. 'There was a time when if a victim came out, the universal response around them was, ‘You’ll get over it. Thank you for telling me but let’s move on,’' Ms. Hamilton said. 'The more public education you have about the consequences, the more willing spouses and parents are to say, first, I believe you; and, second, you need therapy because we all know that this has lifelong dangerous effects.'”

York Daily Recordydr.comSpanier could be charged in PSU Sex Abuse Scandal"'I would assume he was already headed toward criminal charges,' attorney Marci Hamilton said. 'What it says to me is that Penn State is the same as any large institution, that the people at the top don't take seriously the safety of the children and keep thinking in the interests of the institution.'"Philly.comLimitations Must be Lifted for Victims' Sake by Ronnie Polaneczky, Philadelphia Daily News Columnist"The answer, says attorney Marci Hamilton, is simple: Penn State University, as a taxpayer-funded institution, is accountable to the people of Pennsylvania. The Roman Catholic Church, as a monarchy, answers to no one, she says. Hamilton is author of the fabulous Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children. The book ought to be required reading for anyone who needs convincing that sexually abused kids deserve their day in court, no matter how old they are when they come to terms with what was done to them."

Philly.comIn Denver, Chaput Fought Bill on Abuse by Jeremy Roebuck, Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer"Marci Hamilton, a Bucks county lawyer who has represented several victims of clergy abuse and whose 2008 book Justice Denied tracked statute-of-limitations fights across the country, described Chaput's outspokenness as just the first element in the Denver Archdiocese's multipronged opposition to the bill..."